Aren’t the months flying by? This week I was hosting some of the monthly Platinum Mastermind sessions – two fantastic days working with great people serious about progressing their dreams through property.
I have to admit I love masterminds. I have been part of different mastermind groups since 2014 and have found them to be hands down one of the biggest competitive advantages in my corner.
If you’ve read ‘Think And Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill then you will know that being part of a mastermind group has long been identified as a common denominator amongst many of the world’s most successful people.
If you haven’t come across the term before then here is a brief explanation – a mastermind is essentially a group of like-minded individuals working together to improve- whether it be their business, trying to make more money, or achieving something else important in their life. In his book, Napoleon Hill described it as,
“the coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people who work toward a definite purpose in the spirit of harmony.”
He went on to say, “no two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.”
This ‘third mind’ is what makes a mastermind group so powerful in helping it’s members access a higher level of thinking, its the collective intelligence at work.
Billionaire steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie credited his entire fortune to his mastermind group. Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone had their own small mastermind group. And these groups aren’t just for business people, one of the most famous mastermind groups of all time was the ‘Inklings’, an authors’ group with members like C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and Owen Barfield.
All of these now well known names understood this powerful concept that Tony Robbins has referenced many times, “The quality of a person’s life is most often a direct reflection of the expectations of their peer group.”
In the same sentiment, here’s another fitting quote I read just last night in MJ Demarco’s Millionaire Fastlane book,
“When you associate with people who empower your goals, you create a wind at your back and build momentum. Positive people nurture your growth, sooth your failures and invest in your dreams. Good people are conduits to your dreams, not just in motivational fuel, but in extending your opportunity reach.”
SO, HOW DO YOU GET THE MOST OUT OF A MASTERMIND?
The 3 steps below summarise key points I’ve learned and observed having been in around mastermind groups over the last 6 years.
#1: Invest in yourself and become part of a mastermind group
- Sounds obvious but it has to start somewhere, and it comes as no surprise that studies into the wealthiest show the no.1 place they like to invest is back into themselves (ie their development).
#2: Open your mind.
- There is always more to learn, and too often people get caught up focusing too much on what they already know, or have maybe heard before, rather than being open to the new ideas or subtle nuances that can make a big difference. This is often one of the biggest things that hold people back. As you get more and more experienced there is a danger that you can feel like you know everything and that can close you off to learning from people that maybe aren’t at your level yet but who are doing some things right, maybe in a different and unique way and what will happen is you’ll still be stuck doing the same thing in the same way and won’t be open to new shifts and new breakthroughs. The true value is in the one idea you can implement straight away and get a massive return.
So an open mind and being an eternal student of the game is key.
#3: USE WHAT YOU LEARN
- Sounds obvious and simple but it’s essential. As referred to above, a mastermind is not about tons of new content but each time you attend, it’s about picking out and actioning the one key idea to get a return, then everything on top of that is gravy. It’s then about putting the conditions around you to keep taking more of the right kind of action.
By way of anecdotal examples, I remember back in 2016 I’d first heard about capital allowances around the same time from two different property mastermind groups I was part of. Actioning that one piece of knowledge more than paid for my investment to be part of those groups.
I was listening to an entrepreneur podcast last week and the host gave an example about the power of masterminds for him – he wanted to be around other software entrepreneurs so found a suitable mastermind group to join. In the first session he heard about start up grants being offered by Stripe and Amazon and by taking action on that one idea he had successfully won a six figure amount in grant funding to support the development of his software. That clearly paid for his mastermind several times over.
If you are part of a mastermind group, what is one big idea you took away from your last meeting that you have implemented/are implementing?